


Only You

by bushViperCutie



Series: The Crystal Ball Series [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Desk, F/M, Flowers, Happy Ending, Kissing, Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter), Office, POV Severus Snape, Reader-Insert, Workplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:53:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24486979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bushViperCutie/pseuds/bushViperCutie
Summary: After Severus has a bad interaction with a particularly annoying and irritating guy, he opens up about his feelings and accepts what he’s told about his worth.
Relationships: Severus Snape/Reader, Severus Snape/You
Series: The Crystal Ball Series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2135451
Comments: 4
Kudos: 72





	Only You

**Author's Note:**

> Pairing: Snape x fem!reader
> 
> Word Count: 4,110
> 
> Rating: M for Mature
> 
> Warnings: tiny bit steamy, swearing
> 
> A/N: I hope this is a good continuation! Sorry it took so long to write! I needed to prepare a lot of content for Snape Appreciation Month but I hope you guys still enjoy it :D
> 
> Also found on tumblr @bush-viper-cutie

#  **~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~**

Severus tried his best to hide his bouquet of flowers as he walked into the heart of London. He wanted to growl at every muggle that passed him and eyed the very flashy display of petals in his hand but kept his face stony and still.

Severus walked into an alleyway and came out onto a dingy street with several shabby stores, all suspiciously closed for the night, and a single run-down pub next to a tall cement wall covered in graffiti. He looked around and spotted the red telephone box with chipped paint on the corner.

He gripped the bouquet tighter and walked over to it, sliding the panel door closed behind him and picked up the rusty telephone and dialed.

“Name and purpose please.”

Severus shivered, remembering how much he always hated hearing the creepy disembodied voice of the witch that wasn’t coming from the telephone he held to his ear. “Severus Snape; visiting an employee.”

“Thank you.”

A silver badge dropped to his feet. He grumbled and bent down to pick it up, careful not to crush the flowers, when the floor started lowering him underground. He quickly pinned it to his coat and waited a minute for it to stop moving before stepping out when it touched the dark wood Atrium floor.

He had never been inside the Ministry and was amazed at all the golden fireplaces along both walls of the passageway he had been dropped off at. He stepped forward and made his way to the other side into a larger space that was the center of the Atrium, with a grand fountain to draw the eye.

Wizards passing by were staring at him and his flowers, making him feel uneasy and exposed, so he hurried his steps towards the golden gates on the other side and stopped at the security desk where his wand was registered and returned.

He hid the flowers as best he could and stepped through the gates, walking briskly down another passage until he reached the lifts. He stepped into the one taking him to level two and ran his fingers through his hair, untangling several knots he hadn’t noticed at home.

He was so busy leaning forward and looking through his reflection in the metal that he almost fell forward out of the lift when it halted suddenly and the door flung open. He steadied himself and followed the sign into the ‘Assistance Staff’ area behind the open desks area labeled ‘Field Staff’.

All the office doors were closed along the dim corridor, but he could hear frantic typing and yelling from behind them all. It sounded like a mad house and the deeper he walked into it the more nervous he felt visiting her by surprise.

 _She’s busy. They all seem so busy._ He reached a door with her last name on it and was about to knock when he heard a male voice yelling from inside. He put his hand down and gripped the flowers tighter, hearing her trembling voice responding to the angry man.

Severus looked around and spotted a bench in the shadows and sat down. The bench was so low that when he sat, his knees stuck up and he felt like he was crouching in the corner like a beast on a ledge.

The door to her office opened and a large wizard stepped out, slamming it shut and marching away like he had just won a great battle. Severus got to his feet and slowly made his way back to her door and knocked lightly.

“Come in,” her voice sounded tired.

 _She’s going to hate that I’m here._ He turned to leave but the door swung open, blowing his cover.

“Severus!” she jumped up and hugged him tight, forcing him to quickly move the flowers away to keep them from getting crushed. “What a surprise!”

“I.. If you’re busy – ”

“No! Come in, please!” she pulled him in and closed the door. “I’m so sorry I canceled our date today but it’s so sweet of you to come see me!”

He looked around at her messy office. There was just enough room for two people to stand, one behind the desk and one in front. There were piles and piles of papers on the desk, the shelves, the floor, and even a pile floating above their heads.

“I thought you might enjoy… Please, if you’re busy I can just see you when we next plan for it,” Severus felt like an annoying intruder, causing nothing but delays and wasting her precious time.

She stepped around her desk and took the flowers from him, setting them on a pile of parchments and pulling him in for a deep and passionate kiss. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve been having the worst day.”

He closed his eyes and focused on the way her fingers brushed his cheeks and twirled his hair, “So I’m not… Unwanted?”

She pushed him down onto the guest chair and climbed on his lap, hugging him close, “You’re never unwanted.”

Severus sighed, trying to keep calm and not let his thoughts stray to less… appropriate… situations. _This is her office. She’s working. She’s had a bad day,_ he reminded himself. He focused on the remnants of her perfume clinging to her clothes, the smell of fading roses and spring grass. “Was that your boss? Yelling at you in here?”

She pulled away but kept her hands on his neck, “Yes. I’m supposed to compile research and put together a report and he wants me to make sure it favors his side but… I can’t lie about my professional opinions! I told him I would remain unbiased and he keeps saying – well hinting really – that he’ll make my life here WORSE unless he sees the results he wants!”

He squeezed her hip and moved his hand up to push her onto him again, rubbing her back in comfort. “If you give into him, he’ll know he can keep using you like this.” He didn’t want her stuck in the same situation all her career. _I’d feel cornered being yelled at like that in here._ Severus wanted to go poison his coffee for raising his voice at someone so precious to him.

“I know,” she whispered. “And he keeps coming in here yelling at me trying to slow down my writing so that they can throw my opinion away for being late! I just… Oh, Severus I’m so glad you’re here!”

She hugged him tight again, pressing her whole body against his, which made him shift in his seat and smile. Even in her tiny and cramped office she made him feel at home. They had been spending almost every day the last month together, mostly at his house, so when she canceled on him, he felt compelled to seek out any time with her, not wanting to break the streak. Even if it meant being stuck inside the Ministry.

“I should continue writing, I have to organize my sources and list them and… It’ll be so boring I understand if you don’t want to stay but… If you do stay, I’d love that.”

He wanted nothing more than to stay and watch and maybe even be of some use, “Gladly.”

She got up and went back to her desk and continued writing. He looked around at the piles and picked up an interesting essay and read it through. She hadn’t ever mentioned what she did as part of the Ministry’s Law Enforcement team, but he was impressed with how much writing she must need to get done with every project. It also didn’t surprise him how lazy the Ministry was to assign all the tedious and hard work to others and call them ‘Assistance Staff’ like they were nothing but extra hands.

Each pile in the room was a different subject that could greatly change the interpretation of laws and whether it was necessary or harmful to certain groups. A finished paper on the shelf was for one of the Ministry officials to read over and pass off as their own findings and thoughts. _Sounds like the Assistance Staff are the real people’s servants._

He could feel his blood temperature rising with each subject he read and decided he needed to stretch his legs, “I saw a drink station out there, may I bring you water?”

She looked up and brushed loose strands back. “Yes please,” she smiled and blew him a kiss as he stood.

He mentally caught it and stepped out of the cramped office. He headed back out of the noisy office corridor into the open area with dozens of desks occupied by all kinds of wizards and witches. He avoided everyone’s eyes and made his way to the jug of water.

He reached out for a paper cup when it came off the stack on its own and filled itself with water and floated into his hand for him. He held out his other hand and a second cup did the same.

“Haven’t seen you around here.”

Severus turned to see a guy leaning against the wall smirking at him. The man crossed his arms and placed one foot on the wall, reminding him of a certain someone he absolutely hated who tried everything he could to look cool.

“I saw you carrying flowers. Who for?” the man grinned and glanced into the ‘Assistance Staff’ passage. “I can think of a few ladies in there worth giving flowers to.”

The last thing Severus wanted to do was voice her name for him to hear. He frowned and made to turn away and leave, “That’s none of your business.”

The man scoffed and held out his hands in mock surrender, “My bad, friend. Just wondering if you had dibs on any.”

Severus grunted his best non-reply and headed back towards the office doors and looked back, making sure the guy was gone and out of sight before opening the door and stepping in. “Here.” He winced, realizing his voice sounded colder than he meant it to.

“Thank you,” she reached for the cup and drank it, not taking her eyes off her writing.

He sat down and sipped the fresh liquid; glad she hadn’t noticed his agitation. He crossed his legs and decided to read a book she had out when minutes later – enough minutes later to have knocked on several other offices – he heard a knock at her door. He looked at her and she nodded. He sighed and got up to open it when it opened itself.

The guy from earlier was leaning on the door frame, “Hey. I know you, we met a few minutes ago.”

Severus looked back at her and shook his head at her raised eyebrows. _I don’t know him. I refuse to know him._

“Severus, making friends already?” she laughed.

The man entered and took the empty seat, “Oh yeah – Hey nice flowers, makes your office more vibrant. I should bring you some next time I’m out,” he turned back to Severus, grinning.

Severus curled his hands into fists, “Great idea. Get out, now.”

“Severus…” she whispered, astonished at his rudeness.

He didn’t care. He didn’t like this man and wanted him out of his seat. _I will remove him, personally._

“Sorry, I must have overstepped. I don’t want to disturb you, I’ll leave,” he sounded hurt as he got up and walked back out, “It was nice to meet you, Severus,” he grasped Severus’ hand and forced a handshake before leaving.

Severus slammed the door shut and sat back down. Her eyes were on him, but he didn’t say anything and went back to his book.

“Severus. That was rude, he was just being nice.”

He rolled his eyes, “No. He wasn’t.”

She scoffed, “Then what would you call that?”

“Aggravating.”

She frowned and went back to writing, making him feel slightly guilty, though he still didn’t regret it. He wondered if his company was still wanted or if he should leave for fear of making her day worse than it already has been.

He cleared his throat, trying to get her attention, “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head and gave him a crooked smile, “Just keep reading, I need to get through this part and then we can talk.” Twenty minutes went by when she finally looked back up at him, “Alright. Why do you hate him? You just met him.”

He closed the book, “It’s his attitude.” He watched a smile creep on her face, “He’s flirting with you because he saw me give you flowers.”

She laughed, “Severus, he’s always like that – ”

“Then he’s always flirting with you!” he huffed and stood up, leaning over the desk, “And now it’s a fun game to play with me here.”

“Well, I’m not flirting back, and you can’t seriously believe I’d ever fall for it,” she stood up too. “Sev…” she pulled him into a kiss, trying to ease his tension.

Severus closed his eyes and felt her tongue slide into his mouth. He wanted to climb over her desk and pull her onto his lap but held back, minding her hard work. Instead he found himself reaching for her dress skirt and pulled it up too easily, feeling the soft silk underneath and the soft skin under that.

He heard her moan and reach for his waist, sliding her hand down, sliding farther and farther down until she reached the spot that craved her touch the most. He moaned and pulled away, “How close are you to finishing?”

The desperation in his voice made her smile, “I can take a quick break.”

The hand under the silk squeezed her hard, making her giggle with excitement, and almost as if on que, he heard quick knocks. He removed his hand, letting her skirt fall back neatly on her body and stood straight as the door opened.

“I was wondering if my partner had sent you his findings and he hadn’t yet, so I took the liberty of writing them up and personally delivering them to you,” the guy walked in and handed her a rolled up parchment.

Severus pushed passed him to the door, “Thanks for the help, I’m sure you have things to work on so…” he gripped the door and motioned for it with his other hand, staring him down.

He laughed, “So rude.” He turned to her, “You know they say to watch out for guys like that.”

Severus felt his eye twitch. _Me? Who just barges into places uninvited!_

She sighed, “Severus, can you leave my office for a moment?”

Severus stared at her and then focused on the guy who was smiling and waving at him. _I could hex you. I could poison you! Fuck!_ He nodded at her and exited, leaving the door ajar and leaned against the wall trying to hear them inside.

“Man, he needs some real work done on his attitude. All I was doing was helping you out, I mean, I helped you. Didn’t I?”

Severus slid his wand out and thought through all the hexes he could do that wouldn’t manifest until the following morning, _Or, until he got home at the very least._ He inched closer to the door and heard her sigh.

“Yes, thank you for the help. I should get back to work now though, and I’m sorry he came off as rude. Please don’t think anything of it.”

“Think everything of it,” Severus grumbled to himself, pulling his hair behind his ears so he could hear better.

“Yeah, but really. You should think about his behavior. I would never do that to any of your friends. I mean, the way he treated me? How many other friends of yours will he do that to? I personally, would never do that to you. I could have gotten really offended.”

Severus wanted to punch the wall. He wanted to hex him with a million different spells. He closed his eyes and felt his body tremble with rage. _One more fucking word out of his mouth –_

“It wasn’t that big of a thing…”

“Yeah it was. Fuck him.”

There was a pause and for some reason, instead of anger, he felt sad. _I messed up, she’s going to hate me._ He knew she believed they were soulmates, destined for each other, but sometimes all he could think about was his fear that she’d realize he wasn’t worthy of her.

 _And now he’s trying to make her see how awful I am…_ he felt his anger bubbling over again. Severus’ hand was on the doorknob ready to bust in there hexing him until his hair fell off when he heard her response to him.

“Oh, I do.”

“What?”

“Most days and some, more than twice if I’m lucky.”

Severus’ eyes widened and he let go of the door, amazed. He paced the floor waiting for him to respond but he said nothing. He heard his footsteps and quickly jumped back against the wall. He crossed his arms and leaned back, propping his foot up on the wall like the guy had done before.

The door opened and the guy walked out, stopping to look at Severus. The guy wasn’t pleased but he didn’t look heart broken. He looked annoyed and angry. Severus smirked and watched him leave before walking back inside and closing the door.

She was leaning against a cleared desk with her arms folded and trying not to smile. Severus swallowed and looked at all her work floating above them. Before he could think things through, he was sweeping her up and placing her on her desk, pushing her down and climbing on top of her.

“So, my response to him made you happy, then?” she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him in, moaning.

Severus fumbled for his wand and cast several silencing spells all over the room, “Fuck yes.” He kissed her hard, sucking on her lips and welcoming her tongue in his mouth once more. This would be the first time they do any sort of anything outside of a bedroom. _Outside a bed, even._

She pulled on his hair and turned away, leaving her neck exposed for him to kiss and bite, “hurry.”

That whispered word was all the permission he needed to push himself back and undo every button on his trousers while watching how she slid the silk cloth off her body for him. He dropped his underpants and gripped her thighs, dragging her closer to the edge of the desk. He wrapped his arms around her legs and pressed himself forward while pulling her onto him. She let out a sweet moan that sent shivers down his body. He climbed back on top and continued kissing her neck.

“What about your work?” he breathed out.

She closed her eyes and frowned, biting her lip.

 _Why did I say that?_ He sighed and slid off her, “I’m distracting you.”

She groaned and sat up, “But I have time…” She pulled him closer, begging him with her eyes.

“I don’t want you regretting this,” Severus kissed her head. He bent down and started pulling up his pants and trousers when she giggled and lifted his chin up.

“This would have been really hot,” she winked.

He whimpered, “Stop teasing.”

He buttoned up and sat back down on his chair, going back to the book. After a while her frustrated groans turned into a single happy laugh of triumph. She held up the long piece of parchment, rolled it up, stamped it, and opened the door. She whistled and held out the roll for an owl to swoop down and take, all in a single motion.

“All done. Shall we go?”

Severus nodded and let her lead him out.

…

He yawned, throwing his clothes on a chair, and slipped into his night shirt. She crawled into bed after him and hugged him close, nuzzling his neck. He slid further down and pushed her up against his body, feeling her drape a leg between his in response.

“Severus, do you really think you could lose me so easily?”

Severus thought for a moment before responding, “Not… A lot of things have gone well in my life… I would even dare say you’re the first – ” he shut his eyes, feeling a familiar stinging sensation, “You’re the first good thing to happen to me… and the only person who’s ever actually, honestly liked me,” he whispered.

He felt familiar kisses on his nose and chin and cheek, encouraging him to open up. She played with his hair at his shoulders and waited for him patiently. He liked when she did that. When she kisses his nose and plays with his hair. She always makes him feel oddly glad to have these features that he had previously always hated. If she liked playing with his hair – which she did almost every day – then he was glad for it, and if she liked kissing his nose, then how could he hate it?

“It’s not that I think I could lose you easily, its that if I did… I think I wouldn’t believe anything would ever go well for me again,” he opened his eyes and looked into hers.

“Severus,” she sat up and leaned over him, “I’m crazy for you.”

He wanted to laugh, _Crazy for me? I’m not the type of guy to go crazy for. James Potter is the type of guy to go crazy for. Sirius Black, Luscious Malfoy, any of the Quidditch players were the type of guys that people went crazy for…_ ; “Me? I’m… There’s millions of me. I’m not worth two Knuts.”

“There’s only one you, and I want only you. I need only you,” she kissed his cheek and laid back down next to him, holding him tight. “You’re worth more than everyone has ever thought. You’re worth everything to me.” 

He let that sink in. He knew he felt worthless because of the people in his life, but none of them had ever cared for him like she did. “Do you really think we’re soulmates? That we were destined to be together?” 

“All I know is that you were made specially for me, and I love you.” 

He smirked, “It was a cruel and grueling process.” 

He felt her lips pull into a smile at his joke and felt her nuzzle into his neck more as her breaths slowed. He felt her eyelashes brush against his skin as they closed, and he knew she had fallen asleep. He stayed awake a bit longer, playing with her hair and thinking. 

He knew he would be leaving soon to teach at Hogwarts whether he wanted to or not, that was the deal he made with Dumbledore, but he didn’t think he’d be able to stand one more night without her in his bed, or a day without seeing her face. _I hate it, and it hasn’t even been three years teaching._

Of course, the solution was clear for him, _Sneak her in._ He could manage that. Afterall, he knew the spell to lock and unlock the castle gates and entrance door. He controlled the corridors at night too, having gained an easy reputation of catching any and all students out of bed after hours during his night patrols. 

_And if I could manage to get good sleep like I do with her, I might actually have enough energy during the day._ He laughed to himself, _If they thought I was stern before…_

“Severus? I think I’m so tired I can’t sleep,” she sat up and slid a few fingers down his chest, “Maybe you could help me?” She bit her lip, “You have that desk in the spare bedroom, don’t you?" 

He sat up and pulled her onto his lap, letting her kiss him all over, “That desk should be used for something, I suppose.” 

She jumped out of bed and pulled him along, stripping off clothes and teasing him, “And I promise not to stop you this time.” 

“I won’t let you,” he growled, throwing his night shirt off. He felt her warm skin and inched closer. “Say what you said before,” he whispered desperately, pushing her against the desk. She giggled and laughed as he pressed himself to her, begging her, “Please, say it. Tell me you only need me.” He bit her shoulder gently and left a line of kisses up to her smile. 

“Only because you brought me beautiful flowers today.” She pushed his head down so that his ear was pressed to her lips and moaned, “I want only you. I _need_ only you.” 

#  **~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~**


End file.
